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10 Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him; he said, “The Lord has anointed you ruler over his people Israel. You shall reign over the people of the Lord, and you will save them from the hand of their enemies all around. Now this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you ruler[a] over his heritage:(A) When you depart from me today you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has stopped worrying about them and is worrying about you, saying: “What shall I do about my son?” ’(B) Then you shall go on from there further and come to the oak of Tabor; three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there: one carrying three kids, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.(C) They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from them. After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim,[b] at the place where the Philistine garrison is; there, as you come to the town, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the shrine with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre playing in front of them; they will be in a prophetic frenzy.(D) Then the spirit of the Lord will possess you, and you will be in a prophetic frenzy along with them and be turned into a different person.(E) Now when these signs meet you, do whatever you see fit to do, for God is with you.(F) And you shall go down to Gilgal ahead of me; then I will come down to you to present burnt offerings and offer sacrifices of well-being. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”(G)

Saul Prophesies

As he turned away to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day.(H) 10 When they were going from there to Gibeah,[c] a band of prophets met him, and the spirit of God possessed him, and he fell into a prophetic frenzy along with them.(I) 11 When all who knew him before saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”(J) 12 A man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When his prophetic frenzy had ended, he went home.[d]

14 Saul’s uncle said to him and to the young man, “Where did you go?” And he replied, “To seek the donkeys, and when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 Saul said to his uncle, “He told us that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingship, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.(K)

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Footnotes

  1. 10.1 Gk: Heb lacks over his people Israel. You shall . . . anointed you ruler
  2. 10.5 Or the hill of God
  3. 10.10 Or the hill
  4. 10.13 Cn: Heb went to the shrine

Saul Is Anointed as King

10 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it over his head and kissed him and said, “Has not[a] Yahweh anointed you as leader over his inheritance? As you go from with me today,[b] you will find two men near the burial site of Rachel in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will say to you, ‘The female donkeys that you went to search for have been found.’ Now look, your father is no longer concerned about[c] the female donkeys and has begun worrying about you,[d] saying, ‘What should I do about my son?’ Then you will go on from there and further you will come to the oak of Tabor. There three men will meet you, who are going up to God at Bethel. One will be carrying three male kid goats, one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and one will be carrying a skin of wine. They will ask how you are doing[e] and will give you two loaves, which you will take from their hand. After this, you will come to the Gibeah of God,[f] where there are sentries[g] of the Philistines. Just as you enter[h] the town there, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place, with harp, tambourine, flute, and zither before them, and they will be prophesying. Then the Spirit of Yahweh will rush upon you,[i] and you will prophesy with them; and you will turn into a different person.[j] When these signs come to you, do for yourself what your hand finds to do, for God will be with you. Then you will go down before me to Gilgal. Look, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to make[k] fellowship offerings. You must wait seven days until I come to you. Then I will let you know what you should do.” Just as he turned[l] his shoulder to depart from Samuel, God changed his[m] heart. And all these signs were fulfilled on that day.

10 When they went from there to Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him,[n] and he prophesied among them. 11 And when[o] all who knew him formerly[p] saw that he prophesied with prophets, the people said to one another, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12 And a man from there responded and said, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he finished prophesying, he went to the high place. 14 Then Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To search for the female donkeys; and when we saw none, we went to Samuel.” 15 So Saul’s uncle said to him, “Please tell me, what did Samuel say to you?” 16 Then Saul said to his uncle, “He told us for certain that the female donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingship of which Samuel had spoken.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 10:1 Literally “Is it not that”
  2. 1 Samuel 10:2 Literally “the day”
  3. 1 Samuel 10:2 Literally “has given up the matter of”
  4. 1 Samuel 10:2 Here the pronoun is plural, referring to Saul and his servant
  5. 1 Samuel 10:4 Literally “they will ask peace for you”
  6. 1 Samuel 10:5 Or “to Gibeath Elohim,” which means “the hill of God”
  7. 1 Samuel 10:5 Or “garrisons” or “overseers”
  8. 1 Samuel 10:5 Literally “and will it happen that as you enter”
  9. 1 Samuel 10:6 Or “will come upon you in power”
  10. 1 Samuel 10:6 Literally “another man”
  11. 1 Samuel 10:8 Literally “to sacrifice sacrifices of”
  12. 1 Samuel 10:9 Literally “And it happened as he turned”
  13. 1 Samuel 10:9 Literally “gave for him another”
  14. 1 Samuel 10:10 Or “came upon him in power”
  15. 1 Samuel 10:11 Literally “and it happened”
  16. 1 Samuel 10:11 Literally “three days from yesterday”